On a day in which the leaders stalled and contenders came from the clouds, Harlock’s eagle on the par-5 17th in his round of 5-under 67 was enough to nudge one clear of a congested leaderboard at 14-under par.

Queensland’s Shae Wools-Cobb (67) and Kiwi left-hander Tyler Hodge (70) share second at 13-under par with 16-year-old amateur Cooper Moore (71) and another New Zealander, Denzel Ieremia (66) tied for fourth at 12-under.

Nineteen players will start Sunday within five strokes of the lead, Harlock suddenly thrust to the front in just his second start on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.

Out in 3-under, Harlock made bogey at the par-4 11th for the second straight day before forging to the front-running position with a birdie at 14 and eagle at 17.

“I felt like I had a good number and it came out pretty awfully to be honest,” Harlock said of his second shot into the par-5.

“It surprised me a little bit but was probably one of those ones where it was so bad that it was actually in an OK spot.

“I had about 40 metres left and it wasn’t an easy shot but just tried to hit the best shot that I could and it just dropped in the front edge.”

After playing his way into the Vic Open last month by winning the Monday qualifier at Curlewis, Harlock was given a crash course in professional golf education during a practice round with Aussie veterans Sam Brazel, Marcus Fraser and Matt Millar.

Although he would miss the cut at 13th Beach, Harlock said it was an invaluable learning experience less than a year after graduating from Boston College.

“Getting those guys to steer me around and just see how they worked and their practice round was actually a massive benefit,” said the Auckland native

“It feels like a strange thing to say, but they looked like they were relaxed and they had their processes and plans and then outside of that, they were just really, really good guys.”

Another with limited playing opportunities of late has been Wools-Cobb.

Due to his current category, Wools-Cobb has played just two events since the start of the year, a heart-to-heart with coach John Wright unlocking his love for the game again.

“I just feel really happy out there. It’s just a light bulb moment kind of thing,” said Wools-Cobb.

“I feel like I had a really good chat with my coach, John Wright after WA (Webex Players Series Perth). He pretty much pulled me into gear to say, ‘Just work harder.’

“There were a few weaker areas that we noticed in my golf swing that break down when I’m under pressure so I’ve really dedicated myself to gym work, getting a bit more flexibility and movement.”

The biggest moves on Saturday came from Newcastle rookie Jye Pickin and perennial contender this season, Jake McLeod.

Pickin and McLeod both shot rounds of 7-under 65 in Round 3 to be tied for sixth and just three strokes off the lead.

Pickin has missed the cut in each of his previous three starts while McLeod’s runner-up finish to Nick Voke at Webex Players Series Sydney was his third top-five finish of the season.

One-under playing the back nine on Friday, McLeod shot 3-under in his final eight holes to make the cut. He intends to carry through a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality as he chases a first win since the 2018 NSW Open.

“If you just made the cut, you can’t really go backwards so there’s only forwards,” said McLeod, who had six birdies and an eagle in his round of 7-under.

“Obviously running down the leaderboard here is not going to do anything on the Order of Merit so you need to try your luck and push pretty hard I reckon.”

The final round of the Wallace Development PGA Championship tees off at 8:15am AEDT.

Photo: Simon Watts/BW Media